Selective elimination of donor bacteria to analyze plasmid reactions during conjugative transfer
Abstract
Bacterial conjugation is an important means of horizontal gene transfer in which DNA is transferred from a donor to a recipient cell by direct cell-to-cell contact. Dissemination of antibiotic resistance in bacteria is very often driven by conjugative plasmids harboring antibiotic resistance genes. Recent research highlighted the temporal cascade of DNA reactions that are critical for the establishment of a plasmid in the new host, which include prompt and robust induction of anti-defense genes as well as re-formation of double-stranded circular form of the plasmid after transfer as single-stranded linear DNA. The nature of conjugation which occurs in a mixture of cell populations, constrained the research on plasmid establishment. Since plasmid molecules before and after transfer are indistinguishable, distinction between donor and recipient/transconjugant cells is required, and physical separation is particularly necessary for the genomic approaches. We established a novel method exploiting a mutant donor which can be expeditiously eliminated from the conjugation, mixture with simple manipulation. This method, dubbed ED-TA for elimination of donor cells for transconjugant analysis, was shown to be a powerful tool to unveil plasmid gene expression profile at the early stages of conjugation (Wen et al. 2025, Nucleic Acids Res, doi: 10.1093/nar/gkaf1299). Here we present an optimized protocol for the ED-TA method which will help our study on plasmid actions during establishment in new host cell, including emerging interests between host defense and plasmid anti-defense systems.
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BibTeX
@article{wen2026selective,
title = {{Selective elimination of donor bacteria to analyze plasmid reactions during conjugative transfer}},
author = {Meng Wen and Emma Mettouchi and Alejandra López Sánchez and Yoshiharu Yamaichi},
journal = {Biology Methods and Protocols},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1093/biomethods/bpag038},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05747344v1},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Selective elimination of donor bacteria to analyze plasmid reactions during conjugative transfer
AU - Meng Wen
AU - Emma Mettouchi
AU - Alejandra López Sánchez
AU - Yoshiharu Yamaichi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/08
JO - Biology Methods and Protocols
DO - 10.1093/biomethods/bpag038
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05747344v1
AB - Bacterial conjugation is an important means of horizontal gene transfer in which DNA is transferred from a donor to a recipient cell by direct cell-to-cell contact. Dissemination of antibiotic resistance in bacteria is very often driven by conjugative plasmids harboring antibiotic resistance genes. Recent research highlighted the temporal cascade of DNA reactions that are critical for the establishment of a plasmid in the new host, which include prompt and robust induction of anti-defense genes as well as re-formation of double-stranded circular form of the plasmid after transfer as single-stranded linear DNA. The nature of conjugation which occurs in a mixture of cell populations, constrained the research on plasmid establishment. Since plasmid molecules before and after transfer are indistinguishable, distinction between donor and recipient/transconjugant cells is required, and physical separation is particularly necessary for the genomic approaches. We established a novel method exploiting a mutant donor which can be expeditiously eliminated from the conjugation, mixture with simple manipulation. This method, dubbed ED-TA for elimination of donor cells for transconjugant analysis, was shown to be a powerful tool to unveil plasmid gene expression profile at the early stages of conjugation (Wen et al. 2025, Nucleic Acids Res, doi: 10.1093/nar/gkaf1299). Here we present an optimized protocol for the ED-TA method which will help our study on plasmid actions during establishment in new host cell, including emerging interests between host defense and plasmid anti-defense systems.
SN - 2396-8923
ER -